


Go home with me (but not really)

by ReverseSirens



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2019-03-28 13:50:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13905339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReverseSirens/pseuds/ReverseSirens
Summary: Lance meets Keith when he's on a small holiday with his family. He's a brooding figure stood by a field in the dead of night but Lance doesn't feel scared as he walks towards him.





	Go home with me (but not really)

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the [safeklancewriters](http://safeklancewriters.tumblr.com) monthly challenge. This month the theme was vacation. I feel like the theme got away from me but what can I do?
> 
> I want to thank Jazz and [Noelle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GenericHero) for beta reading!

Lance is in his sophomore year of high school when he meets Keith. It’s his spring break and Lance is at a small cottage away from civilization with his family.The cottage is old and damaged, with small cracks in the windows and moss growing out of the side. Clearly, the place had been neglected for years. Despite that, the cottage is one of his favourite buildings he has known in his life. Something about the unapologetic imperfections engraved into its sides make it much more appealing.

On the day of the predestined meeting, the sky is dripping sadness upon the sleeping world. Lance is powering through the windy night, his jacket pulled tight around his waist to keep himself as warm as possible and his arms close to his body for extra heat.

From where he is now, he can already see a field full of flowers that sway along with the wind. Subdued colours travel through the distance and Lance watches them with squinted eyes. But the flowers are not what initially catches Lance’s eye, the real attraction is the brooding figure stood a ways from the church.

Lance was always the type of person to think a plan through fully before going ahead with it. He would never rush in with no idea of what he was doing because he knows his actions have consequences. Now, Lance takes a step in the direction of the figure.

Everything in him is telling him he's making a mistake. This irrationality is completely new to him and he doesn’t want to feel it ever again. The sensation burns and rips at his skin. His body moves on its own while every other part of Lance is yelling to stop. So, he carries on.

The cottage is far behind him at this point. He knows that if he turns around, he won’t be able to see it clearly behind the hill.

By the time Lance is a couple metres away from the figure, the sky has stopped its sadness, now the stars are still shining brightly down on Lance.

“Hello,” Lance says. He turns towards the field of flowers and his eyes catch on a wilting flower alone in the crowd of beauty. Its colour, a fading purple, gradually turns grey.

“Who the  _ fuck _ are you?” the figure near Lance demands. Lance is not surprised by his reaction, it’s the middle of the night and, if Lance were in this person’s shoes, he would also be terrified. Lance chuckles but doesn’t move closer.

“I’m Lance! I’m staying in that cottage up there.” He points at the cottage up past the hill, which isn’t visible from this angle. Saying his name to this stranger feels dumb to say the least. He’s not sure if it’s the moon washing over his skin or the wine-covered beef his dad made for dinner but he feels invincible.

“Keith,” the stranger answers, although from the ambiguous way he spoke Lance isn’t sure whether Keith felt forced to say it or not. He stands in silence with Keith next to him for what feels like hours. Neither of them makes a noise, and the silence fills Lance with peace. Something he hadn’t felt in a while.

The next morning, Lance leaves the cottage. His mum helps him pack his bags regardless of how many times he tells her he doesn’t need her help. When he leaves to go back to school, he feels a part of him crack as he watches the small structure disappear in the distance. The time seemed to have gone by a lot faster than he ever would have expected.

He doesn’t speak of Keith to anyone. When he talks about his vacation, he leaves the last day out of it. The moment seemed like it wanted to be kept a secret, and Lance respected that.

○

Lance has graduated high school when he meets Keith again. This time, he sees him early in his stay. Keith stands in relatively the same spot and much like last time, when Lance comes up to him and says hello, he shouts.

“Oh,” Keith says after calming down, “It’s you” Lance smiles. Since finishing high school he has gotten better at social situations. “Why are you here again?”

“Came here for holiday! I just finished high school so my parents decided we would come up here again.” He remembers the conversation well. His mum asked if he wanted to do anything to celebrate his graduating high school with all As. He said he wanted to go to the cottage again.

“Do you live anywhere close to here?” Lance asks Keith. He doesn’t know Keith at all, but maybe asking personal questions is a good way to get to know him better.

Keith scoffs. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“What? I was just asking because you were here almost three years ago!”

“So were you.” Keith points out. Lance groans and folds his arms over his chest but doesn’t walk away.

“Well,” a soft chuckle leaves Lance, “you're not wrong.” and Keith seems to find the comment amusing if the way he shakes his head and laughs under his breath is anything to go by.

The silence between them drags on this time. No longer does Lance feel at peace with the lack of words but rather, he feels the avoidance of words coming from both him and Keith. It's the same ripping of flesh sensation Lance often gets when words are left unspoken.

“I have to go,” Keith says. He doesn't wait for Lance to respond as he turns away.

There used to be a time when Lance would have let Keith walk away without an attempt to stop him. He would have let Keith go without knowing a single thing beside his name. Lance would have been OK with that even today. What he is not OK with is missed opportunities.

“Hey,” Keith turns around when Lance calls out, “how can I contact you beside coming here once every three years?”

“I'm sure you'll figure something out,” Keith begins to walk away again. Lance calls out after him in protest to which Keith laughs and walks back to him.

“Here's my phone number,” Keith writes the digits on a small piece of paper. As soon as that is done, he turns to leave.

Once again, Lance leaves the cottage before he properly gets to know Keith.

○

When Lance finishes his third year of university, he goes on holiday to Sweden with his friends and invites Keith.

When the plane lands, Lance stretches his limbs and exits from the front. Muffled laughter surrounds him as he walks into the airport, his friends trailing behind him with sleep weighing them down.

Not even five minutes after landing, Lance feels like he has been plunged into a pool of freezing cold water. There, by the door with hands tucked into a trench coat, is Keith. Lance does the only thing he can do in such a situation: he passes his bags to his friend and walks over to Keith with a grin stretching across his face.

“Look who we have here,” Lance says as he comes up to Keith. “Do you never change your phone?”

Keith rolls his eyes, a small smirk upon his face. “I change my phone, asshole. Just not the number. I find it’s easier to keep in contact with people when you don’t have to message them about a new phone number every year.”

Keith is rather old fashioned when it comes to technology and sense of style. Despite their day and age, he refuses to change his phone even when the glass cracks beyond repair (he says it’s the Government’s fault) and he never cuts his hair unless he is forced to by his brother, instead letting it grow out around his face. He neglects his fashion sense and hygiene so he can instead do his work to the best of his abilities.

He’s one of Lance’s favourite people but Lance won’t tell him. He won’t let Keith win this round.


End file.
